Skiing star Bode Miller to announce World Cup, Vancouver Olympic plans Thursday

Bode Miller to announce Olympic plans Thursday

PARK CITY, Utah — For months, Bode Miller has been mum about his future in skiing.

Will he try to race at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics?

Will he return to the World Cup circuit this year?

One of the sport’s biggest stars — and enigmas — will hold a news conference in Los Angeles on Thursday to answer those questions, and it appears that he will say “Yes” to both.

Miller broke away from the U.S. Ski Team in 2007 to train and race on his own. But it was via a media advisory issued by that group Tuesday, touting a “U.S. Ski Team Press Conference,” that word came of Miller’s upcoming appearance. Sasha Rearick, the men’s U.S. Alpine Ski Team head coach, also will participate in Thursday’s news conference.

The office of Miller’s agent, Lowell Taub, directed all inquiries Tuesday to the U.S. Ski Team.

“The U.S. Ski Team is excited to participate in a joint announcement with Bode Miller, where he will make known what he has decided about his plans for the upcoming season,” U.S. Ski Team vice president of communications Tom Kelly said in a telephone interview.

Kelly would not confirm whether Miller will announce a return to the team and to competition.

Miller’s plans have been in doubt since the end of the last World Cup season, when he skipped the final four stops to spend time with his daughter and said he was considering retirement.

He is a two-time World Cup overall champion and won two silver medals at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games. But Miller made more headlines for his late-night partying than his skiing at the 2006 Turin Olympics, where he did not win a medal.

If Miller does want to compete at the Vancouver Games, he needs to qualify for the team by racing in World Cup events, Kelly said.